


Grian in a Box. What will he do?

by TumblingBackpacks



Series: Based on Tumblr [3]
Category: Hermitcraft RPF, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Christmas, Fluff, Gen, Hermitcraft Headcanons, Humor, Inspired By, just a little bit of christmas spirit at the end, or at least it was supposed to be a mini christmas drabble at the end, then whoops now there's 1.5k extra words so I just split it into a second chapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:28:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28321650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TumblingBackpacks/pseuds/TumblingBackpacks
Summary: Xisuma finds Grian asleep in a shulker box. What happens when the Grian box makes its way to the Boomers? The resident Hermitcraft spoon is also intrigued.Also including a Christmas chapter (ft. fluffy friendships with Mumbo and Grian)
Relationships: Grian & mumbo jumbo, Oliver Brotherhood & Charles | Grian
Series: Based on Tumblr [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2068290
Comments: 18
Kudos: 178





	1. Hot Potato

It started as an accident, really. Xisuma had been wandering the shopping district, as you do, in search for some materials, when he nearly tripped over a red shulker box placed in the center of the entrance to the barge.

It wasn’t uncommon for Hermits to leave shulker boxes lying around when working on projects, but it was odd that one would be left so plainly in sight without anyone nearby. It didn’t seem like it belonged to Grian as the builder was nowhere in sight, and certainly not working on any nearby projects that would require any shulker boxes.

Of course, many Hermits also color coded their boxes, perhaps it was their payment box and they had forgotten to pick it up when they bought their goods? Regardless, Xisuma figured he could grab the box and send a description in chat asking who for the owner.

He opened the shulker box to take a glance at the items, only to be greeted with a mop of dirty blond hair. What?

Xisuma tilted his head to the side to get a better view. Grian was tucked in a fetal position, head pressed up against his knees and fast asleep. This had to be one of the oddest encounters he’d had this season, but he wasn’t one to judge.

Just to make sure Grian hadn’t been trapped inside and fallen asleep out of the sheer length of time he had been inside, he lightly shook Grian by the shoulder, “Grian? Are you alright?”

Grian stirred softly, “Mm resting. Five more minutes.” He mumbled before promptly dozing back off.

Xisuma shrugged, as long as Grian wasn’t hurt, this was fine, he supposed. He put the cover back on the shulker and finished his purchases at the barge. 

Just before taking off with his elytra, he looked back at the box. Well, he wouldn’t want another Hermit accidentally disturbing Grian. He picked up the shulker box and decided he could take Grian to a more private place to rest.

Maybe at one of his shops? He needed to stock those anyway, and he was sure he could find a quiet area there. Yes, that would work nicely. 

“Hey X!” A voice called out to him from above.

Xisuma tried an awkward wave, but both his hands were holding the Grian shulker box and he didn’t want to shake it too much. “Hello Impulse!”

“Whatcha got there?” Impulse asked, swooping in to land next to him. “Need some help?”

“Ah, I’m fine,” Xisuma said, “Just got to be a bit careful with this box.”

“Ooh precious cargo, I see,” Impulse said, interest piquing. “Well don’t leave it a mystery! The box is red, so redstone maybe? That’s not super special though, I mean it could be—“

“Well actually, it’s Grian.” 

Impulse blinked, “Wait, Grian?”

Xisuma nodded and Impulse’s face filled with a mixture of realization and excitement. “Like _actually_ Grian? Grian in a box?”

Xisuma huffed a laugh, “ _Yes_. It seems he felt it was a good place to sleep.”

“No way!” Impulse was practically buzzing with energy.

Xisuma shushed him, “You might wake him up!”

“Right, right! Sorry!” Impulse lowered his voice to a loud whisper. “Can I have the Grian box? Please? I’ll trade you for it!”

“Well, I don’t know about—“

“Please!” Impulse was using puppy eyes now, “I’ll trade you mycelium! Do you want mycelium? Here take some mycelium!”

Impulse tossed a stack of mycelium at him. Xisuma carefully put the shulker box down before tossing the mycelium back at Impulse. “I don’t need mycelium! Look, I can trust you with Grian, just— just be _careful_ , okay?”

Impulse flashed a thumbs up and a bright grin, “Cross my heart, he’ll be super safe!”

Impulse picked up the Grian box and placed it in his inventory. “Thanks X!”

Xisuma watched him with a fond smile as he flew off. Well, at least he wouldn’t be left with the issue of explaining this to Grian when he woke up. 

A moment later, another thought hit him. Impulse was able to put the Grian box in his inventory. He was able to _physically_ transport a player in his inventory. Xisuma quickly pulled up his admin screens to check Grian. It appeared that he was logged as AFK. A sigh of relief escaped him, at least he wasn’t harmed by that action. 

Although... this did bring up a load of concerning possibilities, and Xisuma was sure that once the feature was wider known, it would definitely be used for pranks. He inwardly groaned at the shenanigans that were sure to follow. Oh well, an issue for another day he supposed. 

—

Impulse was excited. Beyond excited, in fact. He had _Grian_ in a shulker box! It’s not everyday that something like this happened. Of course, he hadn’t checked yet, but sleeping in a shulker box seemed like such a Grian thing to do, and Impulse didn’t see a reason for Xisuma to lie about something like this, so it must be true!

He flew to his base, and naturally opened the shulker box. Sure enough, Grian was sitting snugly inside, fast asleep. Impulse covered his mouth with his hands to muffle his laugh. Grian was so cute sitting in there! He didn’t want to wake him! 

Now, where to place the shulker box? It had to be in a safe spot. Somewhere well muffled. Hmm. He flew around the perimeter of his base for a while, trying to find a good area. Under his base wouldn’t do, he wouldn't want to accidentally forget Grian was there like his kelp farm (not like it was really his fault though! Out of sight, out of mind, as people say). He needed somewhere near his place of work so he could keep an eye on it, but far enough that the noise wouldn’t be too obtrusive. But where to go?

He looped back around and landed back at the Grian box. Still no sounds, so it seemed Grian was still safely asleep. He picked the box back up again, placing it into the hotbar of his inventory again. Impulse would find the perfect spot, it was just taking longer than he expected.

Just as he was about to take yet _another_ loop around his base, he got a message from Tango. 

<Tango Tek: Calling Boomers!>

<Tango Tek: We have two jobs :)>

Oh! More jobs for the Boomers! The Grian box quickly slipped out of mind and his train of thought switched to heading back to the shopping district to meet with Tango and Bdubs. Now, where did he place his shovels?

—

“Hey guys!” Impulse greeted cheerily as he entered the second story of their shop. Tango and Bdubs were already inside. 

“Where are your shovels?” Tango asked. 

“Yeah! You’re our shovel boy!” Bdubs added.

“Right here!” Impulse placed both shovels in his hands doing a quick shovel shuffle for emphasis.

“So, two jobs today?”

Tango tossed the slips of paper on the table, “Ren and Keralis both need our explosive services.”

“Ooh! So who are we going first?” Bdubs asked. “Maybe the smaller job first so we can end with a bang!”

Tango quirked a smile at the pun, “That was terrible!”

“That was good!” Bdubs protested, “I’m the best at word play.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Impulse teased, also grinning at the pun. Bdubs stuck his tongue at the two of them. 

“We need to get back to business,” Tango said. “So Ren first?”

—

“Gentlemen, I am in need of your explosive services,” Ren said, cutting straight to the point. 

“So we’ve heard,” Impulse said. “That’s our specialty!”

“Making things go boom!” Bdubs added, “The Boomers!”

“Mhm. See, I want to make a bunch of cool networks and whatnot under here,” Ren gestured below him, “But I can’t be bothered to dig it all out. Do you guys fancy blowing it all up for me? All the way down the bedrock and I’ll throw some diamonds at cha?”

“Holy cow,” Impulse said, “Down to bedrock?”

As Impulse climbed down the ladder to scope the depth, he could hear his fellow Boomers continue to ask questions.

“So what are we at here? Like 47?” Tango asked.

“We’re a nice company,” Bdubs said, “If you have a beacon you can save some money.”

Impulse climbed back up, placing his shovels back into his hands. 

“I don’t actually. No. I don’t.” Ren responded.

“You called the right guys,” Bdubs said. “We’ll get this job done no problem.”

“It’s a bit more tricky.” Ren said, “I can see the dollar signs in your eyes, but we actually need to go up to my main base. I want to test your skill first.”

“Ah so it’s precision,” Tango said.

“That is pretty tricky,” Impulse agreed, the TNT would have to be timed correctly for this to go smoothly.

They climbed back up to the main base and Tango pulled out his redstone box to prepare where they needed to set up the machine. Impulse’s face fell as he suddenly remembered a _very important_ box he was holding. 

“I’ll be right back!” Impulse said in a definitely-not-panic-filled voice. “

“Wait! Impulse!” Tango called after him.

“I guess we only need to split the payment two way then,” Bdubs joked.

Impulse thinks Ren might have voiced some concern as well, but he was out of earshot at that point. It was fine, he just needed to find a safe area... there!

Impulse placed the box onto the hilled part of the shore, next to the bamboo. Their jobs had gone fairly smoothly before, but better safe than sorry. This was a safe distance from any potential explosions, and high enough that the waves couldn’t reach. Perfect. Impulse rushed back to the top of the base.

“Where’d you go?” Bdubs asked. 

“Just wanted to make sure some, ah, stuff was safe.” 

“Glad you’re back!” Tango said. “I thought you were trying to skip out on all the work or something.”

The machine was practically finished at this point, it looked like they just needed to explain how it worked and set it off. He could explain Grian in a box later, right now they had a job to do.

“Come on! You know, I’ve decided it’s time for me to prove my worth,” Impulse responded. “I got some redstone skills!”

“I do!” he did a shovel shuffle for a flourish. “I’m more than just a shovel boy.”

“You’re— you’re not testing those skills _here_ are you?” Ren asked.

“No, no!” The other Boomers were quick to assure that wasn’t the case as well. “Don’t worry about it, full confidence.”

Bdubs had Ren sign the book ensuring that they would not be liable for any mishaps, but Impulse was sure it would go fine. He explained the hopper system, and how adding more items would make it go higher, and vice versa. This would go great, the smoothest job for sure.

The first explosion went perfectly. No muss, no fuss, and Ren seemed impressed. Even Tango seemed excited at the performance, “You’re more than just a shovel.”

“Yay!” They removed the water and performed another successful explosion. Of course, that’s when it all went south. 

“You wanted to dig all the way down to bedrock right?” Impulse asked, “Just— You just need to remove some items and it’ll go down further. Then we’re good to go!”

“So, this is the control,” Ren said.

“Variable systems!” Bdubs added, and Impulse made sure to remind again, “Yup, so just remove the items...”

“And then I hit the button again?” Ren asked. Upon confirmation, he hit the button. The TNT were dispensed and ignited and... didn’t fall.

“Wait a minute...” Tango said, uncertainty creeping in his voice.

“Why aren’t they dropping Ren?” Impulse asked, right before everything blew up. Several cries of “oh no!” rang out.

(Meanwhile, Xisuma may or may not have frantically checked his admin screens in a panic upon seeing Impulse’s death message in chat. "Boom goes the Boomers" It was a little funny if not completely stressful. At least no consequences seemed to have befallen the Grian box.)

After several apologies to Ren, a voucher for a free Boomer job, and a weak attempt at being positive amidst Ren’s grieving process for his base, they decided to head over to Keralis’s base.

Impulse opted to hold the Grian box rather than put it in his inventory, and if he held it with more protectiveness than a normal shulker, Bdubs didn’t comment on it. Tango on the other hand, pulled him to the side for questioning. 

“What’s with the shulker?”

“It’s—it’s,” Impulse said, trying to form a coherent explanation, “It’s Grian.”

“It’s...Grian?” Tango frowned in confusion, “I mean it’s red, but it doesn’t really look like Grian other than that.”

“Ah well,” Impulse put down the box carefully and lifted the top. Tango’s eyebrows shot up, his mouth forming an “oh” but not making any sound. 

“You brought him to a Boomer job?!?” Tango whispered harshly. 

“I didn’t mean to!” Tango protested, “I forgot! Besides, I placed him safely outside before Ren’s job.”

“So _that’s_ where you went! Well, no offense, but I’m taking Grian.”

“That’s fair,” Impulse conceded, “I probably shouldn’t have brought him on the job.”

“Probably?!?” Tango said, carefully placing the lid back onto the Grian box. Impulse shrugged. “I’m honestly sure how he didn’t wake up.”

“You and me both.”

—

Bdubs was frantically keeping Keralis distracted with small talk. Where were Tango and Impulse? He was honestly ten seconds away from kicking them both out of the Boomers (not really, but the temptation was there). Seriously, first Impulse dashing off, then both of them?

“Sorry!” Impulse called out, “We’re here now!”

Both he and Tango were _finally_ here, but Tango was clutching a red shulker box. Maybe a redstone box? Bdubs didn’t know, but it wasn’t really important right now. They had a customer after all!

“A-ha! And here come the other Boomers now!” Bdubs said, keeping his positive tone while shooting a glare at Tango and Impulse. Impulse cast a sheepish look and they picked up the discussion with Keralis and what job needed to be completed. Hopefully he could get through at least _one_ job without being blown up.

—

Tango and Impulse sat back on the shore to watch Bdubs finish the job on his own. He had assured that he could, but even Keralis seemed hesitant in trusting his exploding skills. Tango took a seat under the umbrella, placing the Grian box next to himself and giving it a light pat on the top. 

“Are we safe?” Keralis asked, eyeing the mini barge that Bdubs has constructed. 

“I don’t know if we’re safe anywhere on the server right now with Bdubs.” Impulse replied, which did absolutely nothing in convincing Keralis that this was a good idea.

Tango placed his hands over the shulker box in an imitation of covering Grian’s ears, “Don’t listen to him, we’ll protect you.”

“He can’t hear you.” Impulse laughed, “You know he’s asleep right?”

“Who’s asleep?” Keralis asked. 

Tango wordlessly pointed at the shulker box before carefully lifting the lid. 

“Oh!” Keralis let out a quiet gasp, “It’s Brian! Brian in a box!”

Keralis looked between Impulse and Tango, glanced back at Bdubs, who was still focused on building the machine, then back at Grian. “You brought him for the boom? I need lots of boom, like a lot of boom, it’s very loud.”

“It’ll be fine,” Tango assured, “I mean, he’s kind of an honorary Boomer for this job. Right, Grian?”

Grian let out a small hum, slightly shifting in the box before settling back in. 

“See!” Tango said, lowering his voice. “He agrees!”

“I guess he does have a better track record in not being exploded,” Impulse nodded.

Meanwhile, Bdubs was trying to get their attention from his boat, and was understandably confused to see the Keralis and the other Boomers huddled together. 

“I thought you guys were going to sit back and watch! You’re not doing a very good job at the watching part,” Bdubs flew over to their area, kicking up a bit of sand as he landed. “What so interesting over here—”

Bdubs blinked, “Is that Grian?”

“I mean, yeah…” Impulse said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Xisuma found him in the Shopping District and let me take him.”

“And then Impulse passed him to me.” Tango added. “After the job with Ren.” 

“Like—Like a hot potato,” Keralis said. Impulse nodded, they were kind of passing Grian around like that. 

“Okay then…” Bdubs said. “Are we going to finish the explosions? I’m going to show all of you I _can_ do redstone. Watch, it’s going to explode perfectly!”

“Yeah! Bdubs built a great machine!” Bdubs said in a poor imitation of Grian. 

Impulse stifled a laugh, “That was awful, dude.”

“It was perfect!” Bdubs protested. “Still, shouldn’t we move him to a further area?”

“I guess,” Tango said. “But where would we take him?”

“What about my office?” Keralis offered.

—

“Careful!” Bdubs said, “You’re going to drop him!”

“I am being careful!” Tango said, placing the Grian box onto the floor. “There!”

He removed the lid, placing it on top of Keralis’s desk. “See! Still fast asleep.”

“What if he wakes up in here?” Impulse asked. 

“It should be fine,” Bdubs said. “He’ll just—”

“Keralis! There’s a TNT machine next to my ship!” Beef said, bursting into the room. He gasped, “You hired the Boomers?”

“VintageKebab!” Keralis opened his mouth, then closed it again at a loss of words in the incredibly awkward situation. “Bye!”

He took the gate exit, jumping off of the balcony of his office and flying off. Impulse was sorely tempted to do the same as Beef stared at them, arms crossed.

“What! Keralis!” Bdubs called after him before being shushed by Tango. 

“Why are we being quiet?” Beef asked before his eyes flickered over the open red shulker box next to Keralis’s desk. “I— Is that Grian?”

The Boomers glanced at each other, “We can explain?”

—

“You know, maybe we aren’t the best people to babysit a sleeping Grian.” Tango said. After the events today, Impulse was inclined to agree. It was exciting at first, but he definitely did not want to be the one to explain what happened to Grian when he woke up.

“But who would be a good candidate to pass Grian off to?”

The two of them shared a look.

—

Mumbo returned to his base to see a red shulker box. A birch sign was placed next to it simply saying, “Warning: Grian”

He looked around, there was no one nearby, so it must have been left earlier. No one left a name on the sign either. Maybe it was Grian gifting him redstone? The “warning” part made him wary, though. It could also be a trap, Grian was fond of such pranks.

After a few more minutes of standing and debating with himself, he decided to just open it. Mumbo clapped a hand over his mouth with enough speed and force to leave his jaw stinging. Muffled laughs could be heard as he doubled over at the sight of Grian sleeping snugly in the box.

Oh. Oh! This was amazing, he needed to show this to Iskall. 

<MumboJumbo: Islakl>

<MumboJumbo: enrgencty>

<MumboJumbo: mega bsse>

<Iskall: you good dude?>

<Iskall: on my way>

He carefully placed the lid on between giggles. The reveal would be priceless. 

Iskall glided in a few minutes later, “What’s up, dude?”

“I wanted to show you—” Mumbo boldly presented the Grian box “—this!”

“Is this it?” Iskall chuckled. “I don’t get what’s so special about—” 

Mumbo opened the shulker box and Iskall collapsed onto the dirt in a cackle. 

“I—Is that—” Iskall broke off in another fit of laughter. “Can’t breathe.”

Mumbo subtly snapped a photo on his communicator of the scene. Just the sheer juxtaposition of Iskall animatedly laughing on the ground while Grian was silently sleeping in the box was worth keeping as more than just a memory. He was so going to develop the photo later to frame it.

Iskall finally seemed to be composing himself, dusting the dirt off his clothes as he stood up. “Do I even want to know this—” he gestured at Grian “—happened?”

“I don’t know,” Mumbo said. “He was just… there. Someone just dropped him off, like a delivery service.”

“Hallo?” Iskall mimed a phone call. “I’d like to order one Grian.”

“It could have happened like it,” Mumbo said. “I mean, this might just be a normal thing for Grian.”

“That’s true,” Iskall reasoned. “He seems cozy.”

“Yeah, he does,” Mumbo said with a fond smile. Grian looked so peaceful, and it was one of the few times he wasn’t causing chaos, so Mumbo was inclined to let him continue sleeping.

“So what are you going to do with him?” Iskall asked. “Any plans?”

“Nothing, I guess.” Mumbo shrugged. “Just go about my day.” 

Iskall let out another laugh, “Alright dude, let me know what happens when he wakes up.”

—

Mumbo returned to his industrial district, mind quickly shifting gears to redstone as he worked to create his sugarcane farm. Almost everything was completed, for the first layer at least. The sand was in place, water was in place, leaves and minecart rails were in place. This was going really well!

Now to hit the button activate the flying machine… and it didn’t go. How did he always manage to build these wrong? Massive redstone contraptions worked perfectly fine, and yet everything breaks when he tries to go back to the basics?

Mumbo sighed. It was fine, he could just take it down and rebuild it. Maybe it was a problem with the observers? He removed some of the redstone dust and tossed it into his allocated redstone shulker box.

“Mumbo!”

Mumbo frowned, last he checked, observers weren’t very talkative. He turned back to check his redstone box and… that was not his redstone box. Instead, he was faced with a very angry Grian glaring at him through a face full of redstone dust. Oops.

“I’m so sorry,” Mumbo tried to placate. “Do you need help getting out of the shuker box?”

Mumbo extended a hand to help him out, but Grian ignored it, opting to get out on his own. Mumbo backed up to give him space, and Grian tripped over the edge of the box. 

Mumbo didn’t know what to do besides try to express how sorry he was, but he didn’t think his attempts were very successful given the look Grian was shooting at him. This was going to end badly, and Mumbo hoped that, at the very least, he didn’t accidentally cause a war.

Bonus:

Grian had just finished with his barge upgrades and was _exhausted_. He let out a wide yawn, leaning against one of his stocked chest as his body threatened to slip into unconsciousness. He really should head back to his base to get some sleep, but it seemed so far. He didn’t really feel like flying the whole distance. 

Maybe he had a bed in one of his chests or shulker boxes? He was sure no one would mind if he had a sleepover in the barge, his shop would be far from the weirdest place a Hermit had been found resting. No bed in his enderchest. He placed down a few shulker boxes he had in his inventory. Nope. Not there. Also bedless. This one was empty.

He began to collect the shulker boxes back up. This felt like more work than just flying back. Grian yawned again, staring at the red shulker box sitting before him. A sleepy thought passed though his mind questioning if he could fit inside. Maybe? He had hidden in a double chest before.

 _Don’t do it!_ the voice of reason in the back of his head said quietly, knowing it was going to be ignored. The voice of reason was right. It did get ignored.

Grian crawled into the shulker box. It was a snug fit, but he was able to move his arms enough to slip the lid back on. It was surprisingly warm inside, and Grian nestled in a bit tighter before drifting off.

He had the oddest dreams while asleep. He was surrounded by cats who would just _not leave him alone_ , just continually poking and prodding at him. Grian shooed them away and cats shifted into creepers that threatened to wake him with their explosions. He quickly took shelter in an old building, the foundations shaking as he shut the door. Grian tried to limit his movement, but dust wafted down from the rafters until he was coughing from the sheer among of it he was inhaling. The dust continued to accumulate then…

“What the… Mumbo!” Grian coughed, redstone dust coating his face. He moved to get out of the shulker box, but his foot got caught on the edge and he tumbled into the dirt. 

“So much for my nap,” Grian grumbled, sending a glare at the Mumbo’s apologetic expression. He didn’t know how he had ended up here, but one thing was for sure, _someone_ was going to get pranked at the end of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In summary:
> 
> Grian: *snooze*  
> Xisuma: just a normal day on the Hermitcraft server  
> Impulse: I want a Grian box!  
> Tango: This doesn’t seem safe…  
> Mumbo: lol typical Grian  
> Iskall: *cackle*  
> Grian: who d a r e s interrupt my sleep  
> Mumbo: oh no
> 
> \--
> 
> The timeline of the fic is a super iffy because it makes a vague reference to the Mycelium Resistance while also being at the same time as The Boomer's jobs with Ren and Keralis, which are like 25 episodes apart, plus Mumbo is working on his Industrial District. Not to mention, the continued existence of his IBBBBBBBBIBI at the same time as his mega base. So just, shhh... suspension of disbelief :)
> 
> Inspired by a post I saw on hermitcraftheadcanons tumblr ([link here](https://hermitcraftheadcanons.tumblr.com/post/637454966237298688/the-hermits-come-up-with-a-game-hot-potato-grian#notes)), honestly I'm really tempted to write a bunch based on all those posts... maybe another time.
> 
> Comments are always appreciated <3


	2. Christmas Bonus

The Hermits had collectively decided to have a party at the shopping district, which was already decked out with red and greens and similarly themed ornaments. Mumbo decided to take the scenic route back to his base, taking in all the sights of Christmas cheer as he flew by. He had a plethora of gifts prepared, they just needed to be properly wrapped before the gift exchange.

Speaking of which, it seemed that someone else had already beat him to the gift giving. As he glided in, he could see a shulker box lying at the entrance of his base. A red one topped with a green bow, and sign next to it with a cheery, “Merry Christmas!” Mumbo looked a little closer and noticed a bit of red sweater caught at the seam of the box lid, and wasn’t this a familiar scene... 

Mumbo’s face practically melted into a smile, _Oh, Grian._

This was no doubt an attempt at a surprise, not that Mumbo minded. 

“Hmm,” Mumbo said aloud. “I wonder who this is from?”

Mumbo lifted the lid of the shulker box, bracing himself for when Grian burst out to surprise him, and… nothing. The shulker was empty, sans Grian’s signature red sweater and a white envelope. Mumbo glanced around him trying to spot any places around his base that Grian may have been hiding and secretly watching. 

This was weird. Still, nothing too off brand for Grian, so Mumbo shrugged it off and went to check what was in the envelope. It was unmarked on both sides, and sealed shut with an ornament sticker. Inside was a plain note with two words on it.

“Look up?” Mumbo asked. What in the world was that supposed to—

The sound of rockets cut through the air as a figure swooped over him from above, dumping a bucket of redstone dust directly onto him. Grian’s laugh rang out as Mumbo (unsuccessfully) tried to cover himself from the redstone raining down on him. 

“Grian!” Mumbo used his sleeve to wipe some of the dust off his face before shooting Grian a glare as he flew in to land next to Mumbo.

“I was _helping_ you!” Grian said, using his not-so-innocent voice. “Your suit was not in the Christmas spirit. The black isn’t very festive, you know.”

“Besides,” Grian added, stifling a laugh. “The red _suits_ you.”

“Grian,” Mumbo said, trying and failing to sound mad as he coughed out a puff of redstone. Grian flashed a grin as Mumbo tried yet again to dust himself off. The redstone stubbornly clung to his hands, and he finally decided to give up with a resigned sigh.

“Alright, alright. I do have an actual gift though.” Grian said, pulling out a box wrapped in light blue paper with snowflakes.

Mumbo accepted the gift before eyeing the box suspiciously, “This isn’t another prank is it?”

Grian affected a look of mock offense, “What? No! I already pranked you once. Would I really prank you twice in a row after revealing myself?”

“Yes,” Mumbo deadpanned. 

“Fine then! I’ll just take it back. I try _so hard_ to get you a nice gift, and you don’t want it. It seems _no one_ appreciates the effort I put in anymore.” Grian said, wiping fake tears. He moved to grab the box back and Mumbo lifted just out of Grian’s reach.

“This isn’t fair!” Grian jumped in another attempt to grab the box, just missing as Mumbo held it higher. 

—

“I actually have a gift for you too,” Mumbo said. “It’s in my base, just give me a minute to wrap it.”

“Aww Mumbo! So thoughtful!” Grian beamed. “We can open the gifts at the same time!”

Mumbo nodded, “We can do it in my in-between base.”

“Right, your IBBBIBBI...BI?”

“My In-Between-Bases-Base-Built-By-Bumbo-Baggins-But-Inspired-By-Iskall, so IBBBBBBBBIBI!”

Grian laughed, “That acronym needs an acronym.”

“Maybe,” Mumbo said. “I’ll meet you there after I get the gift?”

“Don’t keep me waiting!” 

With that, Grian flew off. Mumbo hurried to grab his gift for Grian, wrapping it quickly in santa hat themed wrapping paper. He really hoped Grian would like it. 

He landed at his in-between base, gifts in hand. Grian was bouncing impatiently on his bed, “It’s about time!”

Mumbo cracked a smile as he took a seat next to Grian on the bed, passing the gift he had wrapped while placing the one Grian had given to him on his lap. 

“At the same time?” Mumbo asked. Grian nodded and Mumbo began a countdown, “3… 2…”

“Wait!” Grian interrupted. “It needs to be more festive. We should get hot chocolate.”

“Don’t you think I’m festive enough?” Mumbo gestured to the redstone still clinging to him. 

“You can never be too festive!”

Mumbo sighed, placing the gift on the bed as he stood up. “Fine, how about I get some milk on the stove so it’ll be ready by the time we finish with the gift opening?”

Once the milk and chocolate were all prepared, they headed back to the bed, which Mumbo noted now had a patch of redstone dust on the covers. 

“Take two on gifts!” Grian said, tossing Mumbo’s gift at him, which Mumbo fumbled as he caught. “Don’t drop it!”

“I didn’t!” Mumbo protested, tucking the gift under his arm. 

Grian waved a hand animatedly, “Hurry up! Let’s open the presents already!”

“Alright! I’m coming.” Mumbo deliberately walked slower as he made his way to the bed.

Grian scrunched his face at him, “You’re doing this on purpose.”

Mumbo took a step backward, “Oh no! It seems like I’m heading in the wrong direction. I’m such a spoon.”

“Mumbo!” Grian got up to grasp his hand, yanking him towards the bed. Mumbo stumbled before tripping onto the bed, the gift Grian had given him nearly getting crushed under him. 

Grian gave Mumbo a friendly nudge, “Ready?”

Mumbo pushed himself upright, “Ready.”

They opened their gifts at the same time, and Mumbo burst into laughter. “What is this?”

Two mugs laid neatly in the box, both with a very distinct theme. 

“Staching through the snow?” Mumbo read before breaking into another fit of laughter. 

“Look at the other one! It’s very fitting,” Grian said, holding up the mustache tree mug next to Mumbo’s face. “Practically identical, if I do say so myself.”

“I saw, they’d be perfect for the hot chocolate.” Mumbo said. “I love them, thank you.”

“Aww Mumby! Let’s see what you got me now!”

Grian picked up the now unwrapped box, tossing the wrapping paper to the side. “And now for the grand reveal!”

“Aww!” Grian smiled, pulling out a plush version of Professor Beak. “It’s so cute!”

He pulled the stuffed bird into a hug, and jumped at the sudden noise of Mumbo’s laughter that began to play.

_Skidiapatalpadia Mum-bo Jum-bo Skidata Vote for Mumbo_

The music continued playing as Grian absolutely lit up with joy. “I’m keeping this forever.”

Grian put the plush on the bed as he pulled Mumbo into a hug, “Best. Gift. Ever!”

A hiss sounded from the other room as they broke apart. Mumbo and Grian shared a look, before making a dash towards the stove. “The hot chocolate!” 

Mumbo hastily turned off the fire as Grian tried to salvage as much of the milk as he could, but a majority had boiled over and spilled onto the floor.

“I guess that’s enough for one mug,” Mumbo said optimistically.

“Or two half mugs,” Grian offered. “I can stir the chocolate in.”

“I’ll go grab the mugs,” Mumbo glanced at the milk covered floor. “and some cleaning supplies.”

—

Mumbo dug out some marshmallows from a cabinet and they both settled down to enjoy their toasty drinks. He handed the marshmallow bag to Grian, who spilled far too many into his mug. 

“I think you might have gotten some hot chocolate in your marshmallows.” Mumbo commented.

“Shush,” Grian said. “There’s no such thing as too many marshmallows.”

Mumbo gave an _are you sure about that?_ look, and Grian retaliated by tossing a marshmallow at him.

“We are _not_ doing this!” 

Grian just responded with a smile, tossing another marshmallow at his face. And another. And another.

“I can do this all day.” Grian said, tossing yet _another_ marshmallow.

Mumbo picked up a marshmallow that had fallen onto his lap, “You’re on.”

—

They had finally settled down from their mini war, and Mumbo was sure he would be finding marshmallows in his base for _ages_ based on how many were scattered around. Grian was leaning against him as they drank their now-room-temperature hot chocolate.

“I feel like we’re forgetting something.” Mumbo said, placing his hot chocolate on the floor. 

Grian took a sip from his mug, “If you don’t remember, it probably isn’t important.”

Mumbo let out a content sigh. It _was_ nice and comfortable here, and he didn’t really want to move, “Yeah, you’re probably right.”

—

The Hermits were gathered around the Shopping District, celebrating the festivities to varying degrees. Doc, Ren, False, and Cleo were in an intense eggnog drinking competition, and most of the Hermits were gathered around to spectate. Most. Iskall looked around, noticing a distinct lack of his fellow Architechs. They were supposed to do a gift exchange among their jungle crew, but it was clear that Mumbo and Grian were likely caught up with their own projects.

He pulled Scar and Stress aside, “I think you’ve also realized we’re missing certain Hermits.”

“Mumbo and Grian.” Scar nodded. 

“Exactly, and as Iskall—” he put on his own head “—Man, we can’t just let them miss out on the festivities!”

“Yeah,” Stress agreed. “We should bring the party to them!”

“My gifts are all ready for giving!” Scar said. 

“Awesome!” Iskall said, equipping his elytra. “Let’s go!”

—

“There’s their player tags,” Iskall pointed as they flew over Mumbo’s base. He landed softly, dropping into a crouch. “Should we surprise them?”

“We could drop in with Christmas cheer!” Stress said. Iskall began to dig through the dirt. 

“Oh, are we just punching through their roof?” Scar pointed to the drop down entrance. “I thought we were going to— okay this works too.”

“Last block, ready to drop in?” Iskall asked. Scar flashed a thumbs up as Stress pulled out a small stuffed reindeer. Good enough. He broke through the final block and dropped down.

“Merry Chri—” Iskall said, immediately getting hit in the face by a stuffed bird. With impeccable timing, Stress jumped in, landing right on top of him and sending them both crashing to the floor. Scar followed shortly after, leaving them as a pile of tangled limbs.

“Well this didn’t go as planned.” Iskall huffed, failing to free himself from the pile of Hermits he was buried under. Grian did not help at all, choosing to join the pile instead.

This seemed to be the final trigger for Mumbo, who promptly collapsed against his bed in a fit of laughter. Iskall joined in, and soon all of them were a giggling mess. 

Iskall’s Christmas plans hadn’t included getting pinned to the floor of Mumbo’s base under the weight of his fellow Hermits, but as they laughed together at the sheer absurdity of the situation they had gotten into, he realized he wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jungle Gang Christmas (TM):
> 
> Iskall: Christmas!  
> Grian: Ahh! *tosses bird in self defense*  
> Iskall: *gets tackled*  
> Mumbo: *dies of laughter*
> 
> \--
> 
> Mugs mentioned in the Christmas bonus:  
> [“Staching through the snow”](https://365inlove.com/collections/all-products/products/stashing-through-the-snow-holidays-mug-christmas-gift-idea-mustache-mugs)  
> [Mustache Christmas Tree](https://www.amazon.com/Mustache-Christmas-Tree-oz-Mug/dp/B07RWL64WT)


End file.
